I'm not sure what you're trying to say in your last 3 posts but it sort of sounded like you were having a conversation with yourself there.

And,

Quote:

I don't set the bar in Germany, nor do I tell you what to accept or not accept for compensation.

I didn't tell you or anyone else what to do. If you read the post you'll see that I said "UNLESS" meaning that you should NOT accept work for 11 Euro per hour IF you expect to make ends meet. One simply cannot do that on that money! I'm only saying what I know to be true. You were the one who said he "didn't want to lose money" teaching in Germany. I was telling you to EXPECT TO LOSE MONEY.

So, re: this

Quote:

I don't know what your problem is, but just because I am looking for something in the future that is 'good enough' doesn't affect you or your job in any way.

First off, is 11 Euro per hour "good enough" if you can't live on it? You're the one who said he didn't want to "lose money" teaching here. Second, I have no problem other than being cheesed off about teachers who want to come here for a year, work for lower salaries, help lower the bar (thereby "setting the bar"), and then split. If you don't think workers willing to work for lower salaries don't lower the bar, you're living on another planet.

You asked for advice here; I didn't come to you. Just because you don't like what you hear...well, don't ask the questions if you aren't prepared for the answers.

As for you, this is what you said about your reasons for coming to Germany:

Quote:

My goal is to improve my German skills and experience life in Germany. However, I would still like to do it, as my ethnic background is German, and I really would like to 'finish' learning German.

What you said sounded as though you are "toying" with the idea to improve your German and explore your ethnic background (i.e. "get in touch with your roots") Nowhere did you say anything about having family in Germany. However, that doesn't mitigate your willingness to "toy" with ideas

Quote:

However, I have been toying with the idea of living and working in Germany for a year before going back.

and work for low salaries.

How would you have liked it if a ton of prospective teachers had shuffled off to Japan, en masse - toying with the idea to work there for a year to improve their Japanese - and offered to work for MUCH lower money than you could have made so all your high(er)-paying jobs suddenly evaporated? When you take that attitude, Willy, don't expect any teachers in Germany to welcome you with open arms and give you loads of great advice.

As for me, since I am a teacher in Germany, I'm finished with helping you with any more information. You're on your own or someone else can give you the input you appear to wish to hear.

Willy, just being an impartial bystander but shouldn't you consider other points of view? Youíre in Japan, a country full of teachers mostly, but not all, there for the cash and very little else about the culture of that country. So, imagine if the Japanese TEFL market suddenly became saturated with 'volunteer' teachers happy to work for Y100000 a month. I can just see those HR managersí faces upon learning they can slash language training budgets. What would ultimately happen to your salary? Itís already happened elsewhere. Look at the pittances paid in Spain!

Also, language schools are there for only one reason Ė cash Ė and boy do they make buckets of it at the teachersí expense. Why make someone else richer whilst you struggle? Germany isnít a cheap place to live. Your Yen will soon be swallowed up whilst you get in touch with your ĎGerman rootsí. By all means, go and have fun and do a good job, but get all you can out of your employer.

Native speaker
University degree
TEFL / TESOL or similar
at least 4 years in teaching adults + experience in business environment
VALID INTERNATIONAL DRIVING LICENSE (absolutely necessary)+ experience in driving in Europe
Basic knowledge of German required
Compensation: Basic salary per hour (45 minutes) Ä11.76
on average 25 - 30 hrs. per week

What I didnít say was itís in Halle, former DDR place, where food, beer and accommodation are virtually given away.

If the above is to be believed, Iím only just qualified for this job. Iíd rather sell my body! At least I'd get to go out at night.

Are you really 41, willy? I don't believe that after reading some of your posts.
For the record longtimeteach has helped a lot of people on this site. I've asked questions she's probably answered a thousand times before. She must have the patience of a saint because people have been having a laugh on here lately. Take a look at some of the recent questions on this site, sie haben wohl nicht alle Tassen im Schrank!

I received a letter last week with a job offer from the same Swiss company offering Ä10.50 per hour (45 minutes). I'd rather take a job as a Stricher! Better pay, less hours, same result - getting shafted up the rear!

I have had the misfortune of working for that Swiss Firm in Halle. The admin is sorely lacking, less than qualified teachers (some without uni degrees, alot of backpackers) and after talking to a friend of mine who still continues to work in that firm teachers haven't been paid in more than a month. 11.76 an hour? Gimme a break! You'll be lucky to get more than 25 hours a week from this firm. Rent is cheap but everything else isn't. Why do people still believe the myth that things in the East are cheaper? Aldi is still Aldi regardless of location. I miss the area and the people who I met. Working in that area of Germany for that type of company wasn't economically viable. I'm back in Turkey making better money with less worries.
I got "laid off" by them after working there for about 2 months. If you absolutely have to work in Germany don't teach ESL. You'll find better money working a macjob.

At 30 hours a week, plus travel time, plus class prep time you wouldn't have much spare time and 13 Euro per hour is, as OC said in the other thread in which you posted this, very poor pay after deductions.

Can you tell us if you're working in the East or West Germany please? Does that figure for rent include the Nebenkosten und Strom also?

inlingua are Swiss as well as Benedict too I think. Seems they've got the franchise thing fairly well covered. What gets me is that Switzerland is such an expensive country but their language school franchises expect people to live off peanuts. I guess that's how all great companies grow - utilise slave labour and then you're rich and very, very big!

Yeah. Inlingua and Berlitz and most "McLanguage" schools are Swiss.. or at least pretend to be. I have yet to work for one in Turkey/Germany/Morocco which had a lick of sense. They tend to hire anyone.. ESL training or not. University diploma or not. A warm body (preferrably female) with a foreign accent. A heartbeat and half a brain are all that's necessary. Most of these firms are "Bizniz" oriented and therefore very seldom care about the quality of teachers or education. As I said before, Macdonalds workers in Germany get better pay and respect than an ESL teacher. I worked for one of these schools in Istanbul for awhile and got tired of the "I've been here x amount of weeks and have only had x amount of days off and I haven't been able to see anything in Turkey or Istanbul!" Waaah. Either backpack or teach. You can't do both. Then again, these people seldom stick around more than 6 months... a revolving door on teachers. Thats why these "swiss firms" prefer young backpackers because they don't have a clue what they're doing, can be paid less, and are expendable. Its like they want you to pay for the great privilege of working for them.
Oh yeah.. just for the record.. I just heard from one of my former colleagues at the Swiss school in Halle. The teachers there haven't been paid for over 2 months now. It's interesting seeing as how they seem to be advertising for more teachers! BEWARE!!!